[roughneck]

Damn, that's a 27+ minute video. Do you have a cliffs notes version of the recipe?

His mix is around the 5-7 minute mark in the video. He also discusses the importance of sodium hypochlorite earlier. Most of the video is him demonstrating the mix using a pump sprayer.

1 gallon water
2 tablespoons dish soap
2 cups bleach*
*the bleach should be 10% sodium hypochlorite. This is more powerful then the concentrated bleach you’ll find in the cleaning section. Use of regular concentrated bleach will require more then 2 cups.
The percentage of sodium hypochlorite will be listed on the bottle.

This mix can be used in a pressure washer. However it’s suggested to be used only with a downstream injector to avoid running bleach through the pump. This will damage the pump. You can mix the bleach and dish soap and run that to the injector, then adjust the injector mix to achieve the desired cleaning power.
I’ve also used it with a pump sprayer and just rinsed with a hose. The mix will clean on its own, it doesn’t need the heavy spray from a pressure washer. But a rinse is needed after the surface is clean.

 

[raylo32]

While my pressure washer has a detergent tank and injector it's probably not a bad idea to do like in the video... use a pump sprayer to apply the bleach solution rather than a PW. Easier to control and less overspray. Then use the PW to blast/rinse. That pool bleach that is 10% might be similar to some of the deck cleaning products. I'll have a look at the labels on those sometime to see what the hypochlorite % is.

 

[roughneck]

You can buy a downstream injector for pressure washers that aren’t equipped with one.
The pressure washer is nice when doing a 2 story house, so that you don’t need ladders.
But for ground based work, if you use a pump sprayer, nothing more then a hose is needed. The solution will do the cleaning.

 

[Old Thomas]

I have a 1700 lb. electric and a 2600 lb. gas. I seldom use the electric one because it is too slow. With the gas unit I can put on a wider nozzle and spend half to a third of the time of the electric one. Aluminum siding has tiny weep holes on the bottom of each panel. Spraying up won’t hurt it if you don’t stand there spraying it all day. if a little water goes in it can drain back out but it could bring out a little dirt.

 

[jeffnc]

I think there's some misconception here about how houses are actually washed. Pros use high pressure, high volume machines so that they don't have to get up on ladders and scaffolds. That would be ridiculous for house washing. They use a nozzle that shoots the cleaning solution all the way to the top of the house from the ground, then let it dwell and let the chemicals do the work. Pressure isn't used to clean the siding, it's used to get the chemicals up high. Then it's rinsed.


For concrete, it's the exact opposite normally. Again high pressure and high volume both help, but it's directly contact pressure washing. You can use a tip, or you can use a cleaner as shown in the picture above. It will be very slow going with a low pressure low volume machine, but if it's a smallish area and you have patience you can get it done.


Pressure washers always give a pressure rating and a flow rating, and both are important for a pro. For the homeowner with small jobs, the pressure is probably more important because he doesn't care if it takes an extra 30 minutes. If doing an entire driveway, it's going to be more than an extra 30 minutes with a little wand

 

[Highlander86]

I have a Toro gas powered model from Lowes, I think it’s been superseded by a Craftsman model that basically the same thing with a different name badge.
I have modified it with a downstream injector so the bleach solution gets injected into the high pressure line, I do this to not harm the pump by pushing bleach through it.
Here is where I got the idea. His other videos show application of the product using a pressure washer.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=INTnf1o1PwI

I’ve never had an issue with harming plants or grass with this mixture. I apply it and give it a good rinse. Used as shown it’ll melt the green growth off of your house or fence or whatever else your trying to clean.

Before I bought a pressure washer, I used a trombone sprayer where I mixed bleach and used laundry detergent as the wetting agent. It worked well for quite a few years and could send a jet of cleaner to some very high eaves. In the OP's post renting a pressure washer and surface cleaner would be better than buying. Or just hire a contractor to do the work.

 

[DallasCowboys]

Instead of buying one, can you rent one for $50? You won't need it for more than half a day and it will be one less thing to move when you sell your house.

Or try using one of those lawn sprayers you screw to the end of your hose and put your thumb over the hole (Ortho ). It may not be as good as a power washer but it might be good enough to sell your house.

 

[ajaye]

I would rent out a brand before buying, I rented a gas one from HD, didn't reckon on it too much, if I had bought one, it would be around 500 bucks or so

I will be selling my home this year.
The home is a 2-story. 2000 sq ft. aluminum siding.

The siding along with the concrete steps need a power wash.

I was thinking about buying a pressure washer.
How powerful of a unit should I buy?
I am looking at a SnowJoe brand, but I know nothing about this.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[JonWalter]

I bought the green Harbor Freight washer a few years ago and love it. It sucks using extension cords but besides that it serves me fine. I use it to wash my car, house siding, ect.

 

[Calson]

I had a 1500 PSI electric pressure washer and replaced it with a much higher PSI gas engine powered one. I could use a nozzle with three times the spray width and clean my stonework three times as fast.

With something like this I always buy it at Lowe's or Home Depot so if there is something wrong with it from the factory I can take it back to the store and get a new one. I bought a Kohler that uses a Briggs and Stratton engine and there are other models with the Kohler pump powered by a Honda engine.

The Kohler uses the standard pressure washer hose and so I could buy two more hose sections to allow the pressure washer to stay in one place while I was cleaning which made it a lot easier, especially with the stairs I have going up to me deck.

Important to run it until the tank is empty and not leave gas in it or the engine to sit for weeks or you will have problems later.

 

[BrisVease]

Yes, it's doing great, but the smell is not one of the most pleasant. I would recommend scraping off as much as you can, then take it to a car wash and blast it with the hose, spray it down with an engine cleanser or Castrol super clean, let it sit for a few minutes and then blast it with the hose again. If the problem is severe, you may need to repeat the process several times. A better option is to let the professionals emop.co.uk do the work; you could ask for janitorial services and make sure to clean it for you.

 

[jeffnc]

Important to run it until the tank is empty and not leave gas in it or the engine to sit for weeks or you will have problems later.

As far as I know this is no different from any other gas engine like lawn mower, whatever. Should be able to handle it with Sta-Bil. In any case, running your pressure washer engine for very long without letting water through the nozzle is not good for it either.

 

[de-nagorg]

As far as I know this is no different from any other gas engine like lawn mower, whatever. Should be able to handle it with Sta-Bil. In any case, running your pressure washer engine for very long without letting water through the nozzle is not good for it either.

And then in the cold climates, either store it in a heated shed, or drain the works of all water, I have seen too many freeze up and burst the pump housing.

ED

 

[mark sr]

I always try to add StaBil to the last tank I'm expecting to use and don't worry about running it dry. I always pull the cord 3-4 times after shutting the PWer off to expel most of the water and never store it with the hose/wand connected. I've been storing them that way for close to 50 yrs and never had any issues with freezing temps.

 

[jeffnc]

And then in the cold climates, either store it in a heated shed, or drain the works of all water, I have seen too many freeze up and burst the pump housing.

Yup. Drain 'em.

 

[660catman]

I connect a short 2’ piece of garden hose with a funnel at the end and pour plumbing AF in it. Have pump running and hoses removed while I do this. For the hoses I just use an air compressor and blow them out.


Retired guy from Southern Manitoba, Canada.